Driving on sand? plus Antenna problems and wheel spacer question

[steverstrike]

I have a few questions.. Well first off. I live at the beach and just got a pass to drive my 4runner on the beach for fishing. I have never driven it on the sand before and just have a few questions on what it should be on and how much psi for the tires? I have a 2001 4runner, and I have 265 all terrains and a 2.5 inch daystar lift... Im guessing I just go in 4 wheel drive high and take off traction?

Next question. My antenna is all F'ed up, It started making a terrible noise about a month ago and now just wont even come up, I guess the motor broke.. Not sure if this is common or not.. I am going to get it worked out at the dealer sometime soon

Last question, I want some spacers.. Where do I get them from? Is it safe to buy off ebay? and what size? I want it to be flush with the fender


Thanks, Sorry for all the noob questions

 

[Madakira]

I drive on the beach all the time. If you are just near the water, you probably don't even have to air down. If you are going into deeper sand, air down to 12-18 psi. Again, it all depends on the type of sand. I drive around Pismo beach all the time at regular psi, but if I have to go into the deeper softer sand, I air down. But again, if you are on the hard packed sand, don't even waste your time airing down, unless you have to pass through deep soft dry sand to get there.

 

[4-Ripcord]

1) Have you done the Andymod 2.0 yet? Traction control will mess you up in the sand. That is the one thing I recommend about that.

2) Power antennas on these trucks suck, swap in a tacoma whip antenna:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/75575-taco-whip-mod.html

3) I have a set of wheel spacers for sale:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/sale-...5-wheel-spacers-1-pair-konig-center-caps.html

Nice truck btw, I like the blacked out stock wheels. :thumb3:

 

[ameining]

I went with 1.5" wheel spacers from All Pro. They do make a more aggressive stance, however are not the safest pieces of equipment. Make sure that they have lugs on them, otherwise your thread engagement will be insufficient if any larger than probably 0.25". Then just torque them on with a torque wrench since they are mostly aluminum, and you will be good to go.

All Pro Spacers

 

[4-Ripcord]

Mine are wabfab spacers. He makes good stuff

 

[chitown40]

I have been looking for a pic of a 2002 in Thundercloud with black painted stock sport wheels for a while now. Glad I checked in to this thread.

Your truck looks great, especially the wheels. I'll be copying that once its time for the new meats.

Paint, powdercoat, or plasti-dip on the wheels?

:nicethread:

 

[Mr. Leary]

4HI and 12-15 psi in tires that size. If you start to bog down, turn towards the water. If you stop, do not spin the tires as you will only be digging yourself in. If you are stuck and the tide is coming in... let all the air out of the tires and drive out. You would rather have to re-seat a bead then lose your truck to the surf.

Bring a shovel, a jack, a peice of plywood, and a bucket. Another trick is to bring some 12inch wide rolls of carpet.

Although the method of sand self extraction that I use varies slightly from the one that Bill Burke teaches, his method demonstrated in "Getting Unstuck" should get you out every time.

 

[wardriver]

I run mine at 15 psi. Mr Leary's comments above are dead on. I would recommend a recover strap with loops and not hooks. I also have two extra d rings to make hooking up to a stuck vehicle a bit easier.

Oh - if you do pull someone else out make sure you put tension on the strap first. Getting a running start could set off your air bags and rip who knows what off. Just ask the guy on here who was pulling stumps out with his t4r.

BTW Which beach? Freeman?

 

[Gerdo]

tire pressure has been covered.

Antenna- turn it on. If it won't come up, yank on it till it's up. Get under the plastic inner fender and unplug the motor. The plastic gears break. Mine is to the point that I can, by hand, raise and lower it.

Wheel spacers- I have Spidertrax 1.25". They are safe and really don't stress bearings like people think. With a wide tire, moving the tire out just past center is still riding on a wide tire that is supporting the bearings. There probably is more stress from parking with the edge of the tire on a street curb. The hub centric spacers usually cost a little more but they center off the hub and are also supported bu the hub. This takes some stress off the lugs. I know people that race Baja with spacers (needed to widen the track on "stock" class vehicles since they have to run stock wheels). Torque them properly and use loc-tite.

 

[steverstrike]

thanks everyone for the comments.. I just ordered a receiver tow hook and I have a tow strap (its my 4th one.. I tend to get stuck alot) haha

As for the people asking about my stock wheels being black, its just primer.. I actually did all 4 in less then an hour.. Just alittle sand paper on the stock wheels and two coats of primer (was in a rush because of rain) its been about 3 years since I did it and they have not a single chip in any wheel

I am going to look into the spacers, I most likely am selling the 4runner in about two months to my younger cousin who desperately needs a car.. I want to help him out since he doesn't have much money.. The 4runner is an amazing car and I really do give it a beating sometimes

Last question, I have the AEM cold air intake, should i be worried about the sand getting up near it? (i do have the heat shield installed

 

[steverstrike]

i am going to go test the sand out tomorrow.. stoked